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How Spintronics Uses Electron Spin to Store and Process Data

Spintronics adds electron spin to charge-based electronics. See how magnetic tunnel junctions store and read MRAM bits, and how STT and SOT writing differ.
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Spintronics adds electron spin to the electrical charge that conventional electronics uses to represent and move information. Its clearest established application is magnetic random-access memory (MRAM): magnetic states store bits, and a magnetic tunnel junction turns those states into readable electrical resistance. Spintronics complements charge-based electronics; it has not broadly replaced processor logic or SRAM.

What electron spin adds to electronics

Electrons have both electric charge and spin, an intrinsic quantum property associated with a magnetic moment. Conventional electronic circuits primarily use charge: a voltage or current represents and moves information. Spintronic devices use spin as an additional resource, manipulating magnetic orientation to store, process, or transmit information. The IEEE Technology Navigator overview of spintronics describes this approach and identifies MRAM as an important application.

In memory, the practical distinction is that a bit can be represented by a magnetic state rather than by charge that must be maintained through periodic refresh. That makes MRAM nonvolatile: it can retain stored data when power is removed. Nonvolatility describes the memory element, not a claim that every surrounding circuit operates without charge.

How a magnetic tunnel junction stores and reads a bit

A magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), the core storage element in MRAM, contains two magnetic layers separated by a very thin insulating barrier. One layer acts as a reference; the other, called the free layer, can be switched. The layers’ magnetizations can be aligned parallel or antiparallel.

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Electrons can tunnel through the insulating barrier. The junction’s electrical resistance depends on the relative alignment of the magnetic layers—a phenomenon called tunnel magnetoresistance. A read circuit measures that resistance and interprets it as a logical state. A write operation changes the free layer’s magnetization to store the other state. The IEEE overview and imec’s explanation of SOT-MRAM and cache describe this basic arrangement.

STT-MRAM and SOT-MRAM: two ways to write

The principal distinction between these MRAM approaches is the path taken by the write current. Both use magnetic orientation to store information, but their device layouts create different trade-offs.

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Feature STT-MRAM SOT-MRAM
Write mechanism A spin-polarized current passes through the MTJ and switches the free layer. Current flows laterally through an adjacent spin-orbit-torque layer, which exerts torque on the free layer.
Read and write paths The MTJ is used for both reading and writing. The read path through the MTJ is separated from the write path through the adjacent layer.
Development and use IEEE’s overview describes STT-MRAM as commercially produced. Imec describes ongoing development and evaluation, including for embedded last-level cache.

In the SOT example reported by imec, the adjacent layer is tungsten. Separating read and write paths can improve endurance and read stability, according to imec, while the design’s performance and suitability depend on its implementation. Commercial production of STT-MRAM does not mean every spintronic memory design is a product, and SOT-MRAM’s evaluation for cache does not show that it has displaced SRAM.

Where the technology stands

MRAM is the best-established application

MRAM combines nonvolatile magnetic storage with electrical readout. IEEE’s overview identifies STT-MRAM as commercially produced. A separate 2020 IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices review reports a 1-Gb MRAM device as a 2019 milestone. That is a historical example, not a statement of today’s maximum capacity.

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Cache is a target for SOT-MRAM, not a settled replacement

Imec describes SOT-MRAM as increasingly evaluated for embedded last-level cache, a high-level on-chip memory application. Cache designs have demanding speed, endurance, and integration requirements; the possibility of meeting them is a reason to investigate SOT-MRAM, not evidence of broad deployment. In a 2018 press release, imec’s Gouri Sankar Kar, then Distinguished Member of Technical Staff, said: “SOT-MRAM technology will help us to expand MRAM operation into the SRAM application domain.” That was a forward-looking statement about the technology’s potential, not a report that it had replaced SRAM.

What published performance figures do—and do not—show

Results for a particular device or experiment should not be read as universal MRAM specifications. Materials, circuit design, operating conditions, and the target application affect performance.

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  • Imec’s 2018 SOT-MRAM demonstration: On devices in a 300 mm wafer demonstration, imec reported reliable switching at 210 ps, endurance above 5×1010 cycles, and 300 pJ operation power. These figures describe that demonstration, not all SOT-MRAM products. Read imec’s report.
  • IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, 2025: A paper on voltage-gated, tungsten-based perpendicular MTJs reported 0.3 ns switching and 76% lower switching power under a 1 V gate condition. For its demonstrated array, it also reported a write error rate below 6.7×10-5. These are results for the paper’s specific design and experiment. Read the paper record.

Neither result establishes that spintronic devices are always faster, smaller, or more energy-efficient than conventional alternatives. A meaningful comparison requires the same application and operating conditions.

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Why spintronics matters—and what it has not changed

Spintronics offers another way to represent and control information inside electronic devices. In MRAM, the key benefit is durable magnetic storage that can be read electrically, without relying on refreshed stored charge for the bit itself. STT-MRAM demonstrates that this approach has reached commercial production; SOT-MRAM research explores different write behavior and possible cache applications.

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That progress is specific, not a wholesale change to computing. The available evidence supports MRAM as an established nonvolatile-memory application and SOT-MRAM as a developing technology under evaluation for demanding embedded uses. It does not establish that spintronics has broadly replaced charge-based processor logic or SRAM.

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